A quarter of folks just switch off their phones

Fear of amassing whopping roaming charges leads to a dramatic fall in mobile use among Europeans travelling to other countries in the region, a new European Commission study has revealed.

The poll of 28,000 EU citizens revealed a quarter of all people turn off their phones for the duration of a trip, while among frugal Brits the tally is even higher at 37 per cent.

Those who do run the risk of racking up charges, are forgoing their usual usage habits in favour of a more conservative approach, the survey showed.

94 per cent of folks don't use Facebook and Twitter as often, while 90 cent don't check emails as regularly and as many as 47 per cent of travellers within the region never use mobile data.

Finish the job

The study will used by the European Commission to further it's push for the complete abolishment of roaming fees, claiming users are restricting their phone use in "extreme ways."

European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes said: "It shows we have to finish the job and eliminate roaming charges. It's not just a fight between holiday-makers and telecoms companies. Consumers are limiting their phone use in extreme ways, and this makes no sense for the companies, either.

The battle to ensure consumers can make use of the minutes, data and messages allocations within their domestic contracts wherever the roam in the EU is sure to continue.